Jung himself apparently went through a difficult separation from his mother in early childhood that had repercussions for his social health later in life. Jung’s mother was said to have experienced a depressive illness at this time, which resulted in a separation of several months from Jung when he was three years old. In her absence, Jung was cared for by his aunt but he was troubled by the separation and his anxiety is reflected in the lack of maternal protectiveness in a dream he recalled from this period and published in his autobiographical Memories, Dreams, Reflections. As well as his relationship to his mother, this dream—which occurred when Jung was just three or four years old—reveals much about his family, culture and life, as well as about his relationship with his mother and father.
‘In the dream I was in this meadow. Suddenly I discovered a dark, rectangular, stone-lined hole in the ground. I had never seen it before. I ran forward curiously and peered down into it. Then I saw a stone stairway leading down. Hesitantly and fearfully, I descended. At the bottom was a doorway with a round arch, closed off by a green curtain. It was a big, heavy curtain of worked stuff like brocade, and it looked very sumptuous. Curious to see what might be hidden behind, I pushed it aside. I saw before me in the dim light a rectangular chamber about thirty feet long. The ceiling was arched and of hewn stone. The floor was laid with flagstones, and in the center a red carpet ran from the entrance to a low platform. On this platform stood a wonderfully rich golden throne. I am not certain, but perhaps a red cushion lay on the seat. It was a magnificent throne, a real king’s throne in a fairy tale. Something was standing on it which I thought at first was a tree trunk twelve to fifteen feet high and about one and a half to two feet thick. It was a huge thing, reaching almost to the ceiling. But it was of a curious composition: it was made of skin and naked flesh, and on top there was something like a rounded head with no face and no hair. On the very top of the head was a single eye, gazing motionlessly upward.
It was fairly light in the room, although there were no windows and no apparent source of light. Above the head, however, was an aura of brightness. The thing did not move, yet I had the feeling that it might at any moment crawl off the throne like a worm and creep toward me. I was paralyzed with terror. At that moment I heard from outside and above me my mother’s voice. She called out, “Yes, just look at him.
That is the man-eater!” That intensified my terror still more, and I awoke sweating and scared to death…
Later in his life Jung wrote the following about his reaction to this childhood dream. ‘From then on I always felt mistrustful when the word “love” was spoken. The feeling I associated with “woman” was for a long time of innate unreliability. Father on the other hand meant reliability and powerlessness.’
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